Skip to main content

tv   The Daily Rundown  MSNBC  November 12, 2013 6:00am-7:01am PST

6:00 am
>> november 12th. >> there's the gipper. love the gipper. >> no man wore a brown suit better. >> he wore a brown suit fabulously well. thanks so much for watching. we have a busy day ahead. i'm going to be on "the view" later on, then the "daily show." convincingly ugly. but tonight, you can check us out. we're going to be down at union square at the barnes & noble. that is always fun. always at least two or three in the audience. splendid time guaranteed for all. here's chuck todd with "the daily rundown." thanks. they say it's never too early. a new poll shows a 2016 matchup a lot of people would love to see, clinton versus new jersey governor chris christie.
6:01 am
all this morning, as relief workers, supplies and money make their way to the philippines, the true toll of the terrible typhoon is becoming more painfully clear. we'll go thrive manila for the latest and hear about how filipino americans are helping their home country. and back in washington, a deep dive and how washington turned a boring word like "procurement" into a big problem. find out exactly why the government help december sk hurting and why president obama told me that it's the biggest difference between the government and the private sector. good morning from washington. it's tuesday, november 12th, 2013. this is "the daily rundown." i'm chuck todd. let's get to my "first reads." we'll start in the philippines. the latest there and the devastation left by what's now being called super typhoon haiyan. a global relief effort is now under way to help hundreds of thousands of people left without food, water, or shelter after the storm wiped out entire villages and most of the tuck
6:02 am
low van city the size of virginia. the official death toll is -- 1,774 but estimates go to 10,000 and beyond. there are still places they have not heard from. the united nations estimates some 660,000 people have been displaced, nearly 10 million impacted. total cost of the damage is being estimated at $14 billion. but it obviously could go higher. the u.s. is leading an international response to get help to those in need. the u.s. has already sent $20 million in humanitarian assistance. in addition, the "uss george washington" aircraft carrier is headed to the region carrying 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircraft. joining the aircraft carrier will be a pair of cruisers and destroyer. coming up in about ten minutes we'll have a live report from ian williams in manila and talk to nbc's mike taibbi about how filipino families in the u.s. are dealing with the tragedy in their home country. now we will move to our
6:03 am
political first reads of the morning as everybody gets amped up and ravrped up for the 2016 presidential contest. many of you don't think you need a poll to tell you that democrats start 2016 with an advantage and that the republican party is fractured, but this morning we have a poll to tell you just that. think of it as a reality check. nbc news poll conducted by our friends at princeton survey research shows hillary clinton is more formidable than she's ever been. if you think this is deja vu all over again, you're actually wrong. clinton was never dominant in 2005 and 2006. and while there's a coronation of sorts for clinton among democrats, there's nothing close it to for chris christie and the republican party. he starts the 2016 race very close to where rudy giuliani did when he was named the presumptive front-runner back in 2006. with the republican party divided over his candidacy, and remember, this poll was conducted after the best week of national press christie has ever had. so let's dig into the numbers. in the hypothetical matchup,
6:04 am
clinton gets the support of 44% of adults, christie, 34%. what's a lot more interesting is what democrats think of clinton and what republicans think of christie. it's clear just how dominant a democratic front-runner clinson is this time. a full 66% of democrats are ready to back clinton in a democratic primary. just 14% say they'd pick another candidate, 18% undecided. basically you're looking at a third of the electorate inside the democratic party. inside the numbers, she scores in the 70s among women, seniors, and those making less than $30,000 a year. democrats in the midwest demand the northeast. clinton does not score less than 60% in any major democratic group within the democratic party. but if you're looking for any political dent in her primary armor, it's among men, 62% college grads, 62% upper-income democrats and democrats that live in the south and the west. essentially it's the remnant of obama's white coalition in the new 2008 democratic primary.
6:05 am
but, please, it is not nearly -- there is not nearly the amount of clinton fatigue evident in these poll numbers as you saw for clinton's poll numbers six years ago. but for christie, it's a much different story. just 32% of republicans are ready to sign onto a christie candidacy. he particularly struggles, scoring even lower than that 32% among men, 18- to 29-year-olds ago, the rand paul crowd, christie only at 15%. upper-income republicans and republicans in the south and the west. in some ways the clinton/christie matchup look like the obama/romney 2012 matchup or any generic r versus a generic d in a presidential contest. christie leads among whites, senior, and rich people. clinton leads with everybody else -- african-americans, americans 18 to 29 lashgs tinos. you get the picture. but showing how formidable she is at this early point, she
6:06 am
leads pretty much everywhere else. every region of the country and among voters the president lost. she even leads christie among men as well as among women. clinton has the advantage among independent voters narrowly and as much as had been made of christie's ability to win democrats in new jersey, clinton wins twice as many republicans, 12%, as christie wins democrats. so the 2016 presidential election may be three years out, but that reality check poll is needed. not just the national media salivating at the potential for this matchup. their potential candidates and supporters are doing their share to stoke the 2016 speculation. today 170 donors and about a dozen political operatives are gathering in new york city for the first national finance national council strategy meeting for ready for hillary, a super pac supporting a clinton candidacy. whether it actually has the ability to help the actual campaign when she announces, that's still unclear, but they
6:07 am
certainry li are putting stakes in the ground and using thing like fund-raising off of videos like this one. >> think of the suffragists gathered at seneca falls in 1848 and those who kept fighting until women could cast their votes. think of the abolitionists who struggled and died to see the end of slavery. as we gather here today in this historic, magnificent moment, the 50th woman to lead, if we could blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the white house. >> well, the super pac is not officially affiliated with the clinton, her whirlwind tour to california over the weekend is the latest example of the way she's laying the groundwork on her own for 2016. hard to find a democratic constituency group that clinton did not speak to while in
6:08 am
california. millennials, check. she attended an avent for the millennial network in san francisco with her daughter, chelsea clinton. hollywood. check. she was feted by jeffrey casten berg in beverly hills. latino voters. she did that on saturday. this week, the hillary clinton this is not my official presidential campaign but you can give me an award anyway tour soldiers on. she will receive the american patriot award at the national defense university on thursday. clearly chris christie is also being anything but koy about his presidential ambitions, which got some ribbing from stephen colbert last night. >> what i'm interested in doing is being the governor of new jersey. what i'm focused on is doing my job in the state of new jersey. i'm the governor of new jersey. for me, i'm the governor of new jersey and my job is to run the state of new jersey. >> yes, he's just the governor of new jersey. that's why he went on meet the jersey, fox news jersey sunday
6:09 am
face the turnpike and this new jersey with new jersey. >> i don't know which i like more. anyway, i'm joined by a visiting fellow who writes for national review and bloomberg view and an editorial writer for "the washington post." all right, ramesh. beat us up for doing polling too early. >> you're doing polling too early. >> but that's okay. it did sort of present a reality check. christie had the best week he's ever had ever. if he's making the electability argument, he's got a long way to go. >> i don't think there's going to be anything in those numbers that will be shocking to the governor or his advisers. they know the republican party is weak right now and divided and there are people who won't just be bowled over and willing to hand him the nomination because he won in new jersey. >> i want to go to democrats, then i'll let you have your conversation. with democrats, though, they seem ready for a coronation this
6:10 am
time. they were not ready six years ago. there was real clinton fatigue. that existed not just among consultants but among democratic primary voters. i did not see that in the poll. >> not just clinton fatigue last time around but clinton disagreement. she was at odds with a big segment of the party over the war that doesn't really exist this time around. one of the things that ea's interesting, and i was going to defend ahead of time, you need a starting point. >> the hardest person to be put up against. >> that's the interesting thing. one of the reasons for the strong clinton numbers is she is up against nobody. what democratic voter out there could tell you who else might be running? >> i have to interrupt you here. we have an important piece of once in a century breaking news. it's right now 9:10 on 11/12/13. there are 3,000 people getting
6:11 am
married today, by way. he had confetti that came down and all this stuff. a once in a century moment that will happen four more times in america as we go through the time zones. >> and we shared it. >> i would have completely missed it if i had not been on this show. >> you would have missed it. back to chris christie, you wrote a provocative column about how chris christie and ted cruz may end up forming an alliance. explain. >> well, you know, we've seen in several of the last republican nominating cycles this dynamic where the sort of establishment candidate and the right end candidate end up trying to squeeze out the people in the middle because they've just got a common interest in doing that. so we saw last time around romney and bachmann cooperating -- >> don't forget romney and ron paul cooperated in many ways. >> and we see it again and again. 1996, bob dole and pat buchanan squeezing out bill grimm. it seems to me there will be some sort of candidate, maybe scott walker, governor of wisconsin, trying to run up the
6:12 am
middle in the republican primaries, and christie will have a rivalry with ima and a more conservative candidate like senator cruz. >> the elizabeth warren boom from yesterday was a reminder how i feel like there is a press corps, a media, whatever, among democratic elite that are more interested in a democratic primary than democrats. >> i think that's exactly right. it's a piece of what i was saying earlier. >> the 9, 10, 11 -- >> no. i was very excited -- look, nobody in our business likes to cover a coronation unless we're talking about the king and queen when it comes to politics. >> what tomb? you want those people to abdicate? >> we like to cover a brawl. so i am paying money for the christie/cruz smackdown tour of 2016. but so, yeah, it's not going to be an interesting democratic primary unless there are some credible candidates. and how much more fun would it be for us if it's two credible women candidates? >> i hear you, but it just
6:13 am
doesn't sound like -- she doesn't strike me as somebody who has -- to be anner insurgent candidate you can't be hiding from your local press corps. she doesn't enjoy dealing with the press scrum of capitol hill. if you don't enjoy that, you're not going to enjoy running for president. >> but she also -- she's not a sort of wait your turn kind of person either. one could imagine that, but i really think it's more our imaginings than anything else. >> there's something about presidential primaries, too, that if they're both competitive there is a group of voters that vacillate between which primary to participate in. bill bradley lost the new hampshire primary because independent voters in new hampshire decided they wanted to go -- >> like republicans with john mccain. >> there is no independent democrats. there are going to be some independent-leaning democrats to decide to play in the republican a primary. that's good news for chris christie, is it not? >> absolutely. you know, a lot of things have been working in his favor recently. and i think that the strength that hillary is showing among democrats right now is at last going to be another one of those
6:14 am
things. >> that was one of the things that -- there were more people who wanted to participate in democratic primaries in 2008 and that's something that was a warning sign to republicans overall. >> right. >> it hurt i think mccain early. >> right. new hampshire and its rules allowing independents to choose which primary they're vote in. as everybody who's tripped around there knows, that's what they do, figure out where it will be most fun to play. >> a very self-conscious group of voters. >> i love new hampshire. >> just making an observation. >> they're ready for hillary's stuff. how serious do you take it? >> as what? >> i don't know. i don't quite understand what it is. they claim they're trying to build some support network -- >> because she really doesn't have an existing fund-raising network, doesn't have an existing base of supporters. her name recognition is extremely low. so we really need hillary clinton to run to build it up. if you detect sarcasm -- >> i'm not sure what they can do. >> i'm not sure legally what they can do either. but they're not going to be able to coordinate with her and it's
6:15 am
not totally clear how much what they do can end up being transferred to her, not technically, but practically. >> public website. >> but ready for hillary means ready for us to have something to do and maybe make some money. >> it does feel like people are probably just making money off this effort. >> and why not. >> we have not seen that in politics anymore. ramesh, margaret, thank you. >> sharing the most important moment ever. god help the people that played 11, 12, and 13 today in their pick three numbers. you won't win any money. too many people are doing that. just wait till you hear what else we've got in today's databank. that's coming up. we'll go live to the philippines there. looich hit in manila for the latest on the typhoon tragedy, the relief efforts happening on the ground, and what americans are doing to help. first a look ahead at today's
6:16 am
politics planner. this is "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. i started part-time, now i'm a manager.n. my employer matches my charitable giving. really. i get bonuses even working part-time. where i work, over 400 people are promoted every day. healthcare starting under $40 a month. i got education benefits. i work at walmart. i'm a pharmacist. sales associate. i manage produce. i work in logistics. there's more to walmart than you think. vo: opportunity. that's the real walmart.
6:17 am
on the table by not choosing the right medicare d plan. no one could have left this much money here. whoo-hoo-hoo! yet many seniors who compare medicare d plans realize they can save hundreds of dollars. cvs/pharmacy wants to help you save on medicare expenses. talk to your cvs pharmacist, call, or go to cvs.com/compare to get your free, personalized plan comparison today. call, go online, or visit your local store today. don'neutralize them odorand freshen.ash. with glad odorshield with febreze. i have obligations. cute tobligations, but obligations.g. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core,
6:18 am
building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal.
6:19 am
back to the philippines, relief agencies are fanning out across the island trying to assess the scope of the damage left by super typhoon haiyan. some places remain inaccessible days after the storm hit a half dozen provinces. no power, no cell phone coverage, very little left standing. a u.s. assessment team says on
6:20 am
the island of leyte, 90% of the housing had been significantly damaged or completely destroyed. >> you can see behind me people picking their way through some of the debris, which is blocking alleyways and back streets. still, no organized aid distribution to be seen and still no government support for these people, no teams of soldiers as we saw after the tsunami in japan to help clear roads. that would help get aid through to the people who need it most. >> aid is supposed to be on the way. more than 20 countries have promised to help. the u.s. is sending $20 million immediately. another $25 million coming from the united nations. with food and medical supplies making it to just a fraction of the people who need them, time may be running out. >> food. people need access to food and need it now. not just in the city but
6:21 am
outside. they need hygiene kits. it's an extremely dirty environment. those carrying injuries already are going to get sick soon. >> ian williams, what co-can you tell us about what the philippine government is doing to reach the remote areas in parts of the island nation and what have you seen of the u.s. effort? >> reporter: good morning, chuck. the government insists they are doing everything they can in what are extremely difficult circumstances. presidential palace was clearly on the defensive saying they were determined that aid will be distributed to everybody that needs it. airports are being cleared and reopened as are ports.
6:22 am
in tacloban alone, flights are getting in there, but one aid agency said to us the real issue there is not only getting the aid into tacloban, it's also getting it into the city because there are no vehicles, and aid that is being districted is having to be distributed by hand. now, certainly, there are no shortages here of pledges of help. some 22 different countries with the u.s. pretty much at the forefront of those pledges but also countries varying from britain, new zealand, right up to a small contribution from china and japan saying they'd be sending soldiers down here to add to the effort. now, at the forefront of the u.s. operation the marines down there, more than 200 of them who have been initially distributing aid and also doing their own assessments as to what's needed. thursday we're expecting the "uss george washington" to arrive, 5,000 personnel, 80 ships on board to join the aid effort. now, efforts have also been
6:23 am
hampered down there by continuing bad weather. a tropical depression swept across the philippines today further to the south. thankfully. but still bringing a lot of rain to those affected areas, areas which have no real shelter after so much destruction. so clearly an awful lot needs to be done and very little of it at this point getting through, chuck. >> that seems to be the issue right now. ian williams in manila, thanks very much. back in the u.s., it's been a pretty difficult few days with people with loved ones in the philippines. communication has been spotty at best, down right out in most places, so texts and cell phones have gone unanswered. nbc's mike taibbi has been speaking to some of those families. he joins me now from los angeles. mike, there's a large filipino american population in southern california. how much luck have they had in getting in touch with folks? >> hi, chuck. yeah, some of them have been able to get text messages through, particularly if they're
6:24 am
just south or north of the major impact zones and they've heard some good news, but also, as wee been able to catalog over the last couple day, have some real frustrations hearing second hand that a relative might be okay. but they don't know where that relative is or whether or not he or she is getting the food and the medications they need. we sat yesterday with one woman from pasadena who has an aunt, a favorite aunt, her father's cyst whoeshgs she heard was okay. she did hear from her father, who was able to get out with her brother who has cerebral palsy and her mom. her aunt is somewhere, she has diabetes and is very frail. she's not sure she'll get what she needs, primarily food. that's a key. it's one thing to pledge support and all of that is mobilizing right now, it's another to get it and to deliver it to the people who need it when they need it. we talked to one man yesterday, thomas, who runs an ngo?
6:25 am
santa barbara, they'll ship out about $30 million goods in the next several days. but he made the point until row get it to the people who need it when they need it under some form of control you're not going to be able to guarantee they get that help in time nap's a problem for a lot of the ngos, which are mobilizing, they have their go teams, but getting those goods out is another problem. >> mike, what's the confidence level in the file pinot government these days to essentially handle this and handle all -- i mean, being able to deal with, you know, you're going to have a bunch of international organizations sending all these supplies. are they going to be a government that is going to be trusted to be able to distribute this quickly and efficiently? >> that's the $64,000 question. i think what unfortunately you see in these situations, and this is something on a scale that really does go back to the indian ocean tsunami and to ka torino, those huge, massive, almost unfathomable levels of destruction, the government is really helpless in some ways.
6:26 am
the ngos come in, find a way in, and do what relief agents call truck and chuck, get the trucks in the area and distribute it any way they can. often times the people on the ground, even gangs as happened in haiti, could take control of it and it doesn't really get to the people in the most dire need. >> i know that seems to be the concern right now. you heard ian williams' report. we have yet to see evidence of it. mike taibbi in los angeles for us this morning. thank you very much. there are many ways to help typhoon victims. for everyone looking for information about how to do it, we have a list of organizations on our website that are sending aid to the region. go to rundown.msnbc.com to see that list and find out how you can help and the groups that you would like to support there. before we go to break, we have some sad news to report here at home. perry inhofe, the son of u.s. senator james inhofe, was killed this weekend in a plane crash near tulsa, oklahoma. the senator's office is has not commented on it.
6:27 am
neither has the national transportation safety board or the medical examiner, but this morning defense secretary chuck hagel issued a statement of condolence. it reads in part, "my thoughts and prayers are with jim and kay mourning this terrible loss. the entire dod community stands with the inhofes at this tragic time with enduring appreciation for all they do on behalf of our military." we'll be right back. we've got allstate, right? uh-huh. yes! well, i found this new thing called... [ dennis' voice ] allstate quickfoto claim. [ normal voice ] it's an app. you understand that? just take photos of the damage with your phone and upload them to allstate. really? so you get [dennis' voice] a quicker estimate, quicker payment, [normal voice] quicker back to normal. i just did it. but maybe you can find an app that will help you explain this to your...father. [ vehicle approaches ] [ dennis ] introducing quickfoto claim. just another way allstate is changing car insurance for good.
6:28 am
6:29 am
there's nothing like being your own boss! and my customers are really liking your flat rate shipping. fedex one rate. really makes my life easier. maybe a promotion is in order. good news. i got a new title. and a raise? management couldn't make that happen. [ male announcer ] introducing fedex one rate. simple, flat rate shipping with the reliability of fedex.
6:30 am
jo back now with your tuesday edition of "the daily rundown" databank pap few numbers making national news. a number that's changed a lot in the past few days. that number is 117, how many votes the democrat mark herring leads the republican mark obenshain as of last night for-in the race for attorney general in virginia. we told you the state will certify returns on 25th, less than two weeks away. the candidate still trails by less than 1%, he can request a
6:31 am
recount. we'll see. who leads after today will be a big deal. five, the number of republican challengers vying for a chance to take on north carolina democratic senator kay hagen next year. a local radio host announced his candidacy over the weekend. calling for a senate investigation and a health care rollout. basically, what do you do if you're a democrat running in a red state in 2014 on the issue of health care? apparently you call for an investigation. next up, you'll have to crane your neck for this one. 408. the number of feet that one world trade center needs to win bragging rights as america's tallest building. the council on tall buildings and urban habitats will announce at an 11:00 a.m. news conference
6:32 am
today whether one world trade center is technically taller than the willis tower, formerly known as the sears tower, in chicago. one world trade's height includes an antenna. the willis building is taller if you don't count the maas on top. we'll see what the building experts say. is chicago going to lose this one? next up, 450 million. that's how much atlanta mayor reed says cobb county, georgia, has offered in taxpayer money to lure baseball's atlanta braves out of the city of atlanta to its suburban location. the mayor's blast at the braves and their county cohorts is the latest chapter in a fight to finance a new stadium for the team. "the atlanta journal constitution" says a memorandum of understanding with the braves will be presented at a cobb county commission meeting on november 26th. that's where we'll hear the details of just how the county is coming up with $450 million
6:33 am
to subsidize a new stadium for the atlanta braves, who, by the way, turner field, a product of the atlanta olympics, is not even 20 years old. finally, we'll close the databank with the flu shoes. the number is $5,000. that's the starting bid online for the most iconic shoes worn by one of basketball's biggest legends, michael jordan wearing the shoes when he led the bulls to a three games to two lead in the nba finals in 1997 struggling with flu-like symptoms throughout that game. jordan asked a ball boy with the utah jazz to get him some apple sauce. the kid did it and jordan give him his game-winning size 13s. now that kid is all grown up and looking for a little cash and he's auctioning them off. up next, taking it deep, guys, into a deeply rooted washington problem. in my interview with the president, he complained about the government procurement process. we'll explain what he was talking about next. but first today's trivia question. who is the most recent major
6:34 am
party presidential nominee to be elected governor after losing a race for president? first person to tweet the kraekt answer will get the on-air shutout. how are things with the new guy? all we do is go out to dinner. that's it? i mean, he picks up the tab every time, which is great...what? he's using you. he probably has a citi thankyou card and gets 2x the points at restaurants. so he's just racking up points with me. some people... ugh! no, i've got it. the citi thankyou preferred card. now earn 2x the points on dining out and entertainment, with no annual fee.to apply, go to citi.com/thankyoucards
6:35 am
6:36 am
life with crohn's disease ois a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps end our night before it even starts? what if i eat the wrong thing? what if? what if i suddenly have to go? what if? but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if the underlying cause of your symptoms
6:37 am
is damaging inflammation? for help getting the answers you need, talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisadvocates.com to connect with a patient advocate from abbvie for one-to-one support and education. today a little wonky deep dive into a word that may be the epitome of government speak, synonymous with bureaucracy and red tape. it's procurement, something we're hearing a lot about these days. the official definition is the act of acquiring or attaining something. the unofficial definition, a set of rules that define government contracting in the 21st century. last week president obama told me procurement was one of the reasons why his health care website wasn't working as planned. >> probably the biggest gap between the private sector and
6:38 am
the federal government so when it comes to i.t., how we procure it, purchase it. true on a whole range of things. >> your supporters say you had a great campaign website. how did you not be able to do this? >> i'm not constrained by a bunch of federal procurement rules and how we write specifications and how the whole thing gets built out. so part of what i'm going to be looking at is how do we across the board, across the federal government, leap into the 21st century. >> set aside the whole private sector versus government, sounded sometimes like a conservative argument, versus a liberal argument, but the truth is the problem goes much deeper and it has its roots in his first term in office. back in 2010 the administration put a hold on some $3 billion worth of tech projects in an attempt to reduce costs and improve functionality. officials said rules for obtaining government contracts were outdated and weren't necessarily getting the best
6:39 am
people on the job. in fact, a firm called the standish group analyzed major i.t. projects that year, including government projects, and found, ready for this, just 1 out of 3 were successful. more than 60% of government i.t. projects were late, over budget, or outright failures. it will president's chief technology officer released a 25-point plan to fix i.t. management. among his ideas, speed up the process and take down barriers to get smaller tech companies more involved. he wrote that "ultimately the government contracting process is easier to navigate by large existing players who in term dominate the volume of contracts and therefore create a track record making them look less risky and more likely to win more contracts." he left the job a year later describing an i.t. cartel within federal i.t., referring to the legal hoops companies needed to yump through to win bids.
6:40 am
he said the companies that win the contracts understand the procurement process better than anyone else and not because they provide better technology. without smaller companies getting involved, there's less competition as well as less pressure to deliver results quickly and under budget. connecticut senator richard blumenthal told me yesterday it's also impacting federal agents across the board, including the v.a. >> this i.t. issue is one that is government wide in terms of the costs of procurement, the delays in instituting it, than using outmoded technology. it is a problem government wide. >> of course the most obvious example is healthcare.gov. cgi federal beat out three other companies for the job in 2011. bidders which that had been precertified year earlier, meaning newer and smaller companies, were simply shut out of the bid progress says. it may be no surprise that the cost, shockingly, started to rise almost immediately. 2011 cgi reported its contract was $43 million.
6:41 am
reports from reuters and "the washington post" showed the government could end up paying the company more than twice that. so how did a president who ran the most tech-savvy campaign in united states history wind up with this? clay johnson is founder and ceo of department of better technology, a nonprofit that develops technology for governments, also a former presidential innovation fellow and lead programmer for howard dean's 2004 campaign. clay, ufsh probably the report they're has -- or the analyst that has written the most about this. excuse me. i'm saying reporter, but you have written a lot about this issue. i hope i scratched the surface of the issue, but go ahead and go deeper for me. >> well, yeah. i think what's happened is there's a new kind of digital divide in this country, and instead of it being between the rich and the poor it's between industry and the private sector and government. and what we have to do is really i think change the policy such that government can keep up at a reasonable pace and acquire the
6:42 am
right kind of technology. you can see it in the everyday technology that government uses where, you know, you and i with probably carrying around an iphone or an android and, you know, a government employee is still on their, you know, 2006 blackberry because it hasn't been upgraded yet. >> let me ask you this. so you said part of -- you have maintained that part of the reason these bigger firms win is they hire better lawyers and understand how to get through. i think you said there were 1,800 pages of legalese on some of these government contracts that when you're bidding for it that lawyers have to go through. so what has to be changed in the law? where does it start? we know that the president -- i've heard him talk about this before, but obviously you can't do this with executive mandates or some sort of executive actions. it has to be done in the legislative branch. so what needs to be done? >> well, i think the first thing that can be done is you can raise what's called the simplified acquisition threshold. now, that's a lot of syllables.
6:43 am
>> it is. >> but the simplified acquisition threshold says right now it's at $150,000. we have this $150,000 cap, and everything underneath that we don't need to have a big rigmarole with. we can do procurements pretty easily through underneath that simplified acquisition threshold. i think probably what needs to change is we should raise that from $150,000 to about a half a million dollars but make so it that that only goes to small business, small new businesses so, that we start with smaller projects and we can grow these small businesses into the large suppliers, into companies that can take on something like healthcare.gov when they need to. i think the other thing that is sort of missing from this conversation is the idea of security clearances. security clearances take a long time and oftentimes contracts require your employees to have a security clearance and require you to pay for their security clearance. and that security clearance costs tens of thousands of dollars. so it's not just that we -- that
6:44 am
government has a limited number of companies that they can choose from. it's also that those companies have a limited amount of talent that they can flier to do those jobs. >> you know, if the federal government were a corporation, right, and truly were sort of run that way, the president who decided to have a cio, cto position, however you want to refer to it, but had a chief information officer, chief technology officer, out of omb, but every agency has its own i.t. system. do we need essentially an actual department of i.t. for the federal government that truly has control over these i.t. systems throughout the federal government rather than just sort of essentially being a glorified help desk? >> i think we need a better brain. i think we need a more centralized and more authoritative brain. the truth is inside of government that the cio of the federal government and the cto of the federal government don't
6:45 am
have very much power over what agencies can do. they're not a regulatory body. they can't say, hey, we want you to buy this and do things that way. that's not something they have the power to do. >> should they? >> yeah, i think they should. i think that the white house needs to open up an office of digital services inside of the white house and really be sort of the central hub for both acquiring talent for technology for agencies and also sometimes implementing that technology itself for agencies. we can hire some smart people, some smart programmers, smart technologists, the things that they can do will be amazing. the consumer financial protection bureau, when they started up, they really took technology to heart. and you don't hear a lot about how they have a lot of messed up technology, and that's because they really put technology in the heart of what they're doing from the get-go. and i think that the white house can flern that and maybe adopt some of their techniques for all the agencies. >> how did that blow by some of these procurement rules? >> well, they did through hiring.
6:46 am
they hired really great people, and those people can generally make better technology decisions because they themselves are smart. and they do a lot in house. so they can develop a tool and then hire a contractor to work on that tool with them rather than basically pushing all of the operational knowledge outside of the agencies. >> and i want to go back to congress here a minute. what do they need to do? i hate to suggest the start of a new committee, but when i think about jurisdiction here, it isn't obvious to me who's in charge of all the federal i.t. issues many the legislative branch. >> well, that's part of the problem is that there isn't somebody that's been charged with procurement. procurement is sort of a community-driven committee-driven process. there's no sort of chief procurement officer. the closest thing is the administrator of the office of federal procurement policy, which, whew, what a title. >> yeah. >> right. not a particularly sort of power
6:47 am
title like a chief technology officer, chief information officer. but the real problem with congress is that, you know, if you watch some of these hearings, it's a lot like watching my 1-year-old argue with my cat. nobody seems to know what's going on. and that's because in the mid'90s, congress decided to lobotomiz ex-itself and get rid of the technology brainpower of congress. >> that's clearly a major problem there. clay johnson, we only scratched the surface on this issue. the word procurement not quite everyday language in washington but it unfortunately is getting there. clay, thanks for your help on this. >> thanks for having me. >> much more ahead on "the daily rundown" including what we'll be learning when the government releases its official numbers on health care enrollment late they are week. i'll take you through the charts there. first, the white house soup of the day. minestrone chicken sausage. ♪
6:48 am
♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] with five perfectly sweetened whole grains... you can't help but see the good. [ female announcer ] just about anywhere you use sugar, you can use splenda® no calorie sweetener. splenda® lets you experience the joy of sugar without all the calories.
6:49 am
think sugar, say splenda™ an important message for americans eligible an important message for for medicare. the annual enrollment period is now open. now is the time to find the coverage that's right for you ...at the right price. the way to do that is to explore your options. you can spend hours doing that yourself ... or you can call healthmarkets, and let us do the legwork for you - with no cost or obligation. we'll search a variety of plans from nationally recognized companies to find the coverage that's the best fit for you, at a price that fits your budget. and we'll do it at no charge to you. you can talk to us over the phone ... or meet with a local licensed representative in person. why pay a penny more than you have to for an insurance policy? in the past 3 years alone, healthmarkets insurance agency has enrolled americans in more than 1.1 million insurance polices ... put our free service to work for you at no charge.
6:50 am
 so if ydead battery,t tire, need a tow or lock your keys in the car, geico's emergency roadside assistance is there 24/7. oh dear, i got a flat tire. hmmm. uh... yeah, can you find a take where it's a bit more dramatic on that last line, yeah? yeah i got it right here. someone help me!!! i have a flat tire!!! well it's good... good for me. what do you think?
6:51 am
geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. trivia time. it was thomas dewey who was the most recent major party presidential nominee to be elected governor after look the race for presidency. he was elected governor after losing the presidency to roosevelt. he won a third term as governor after losing to truman in 1948. how about that, new york loves their losing presidential candidates apparently. congratulations to today's winner. send your trivia questions to dailyrundown at msnbc.com. the only reason he won is because his class was here in studio or he would have gotten that answer first. having triplets is such a blessing. not financially. so we switched to the bargain detergent
6:52 am
but i found myself using three times more than they say to and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back to tide. they're cuter in clean clothes. that's my tide. what's yours?
6:53 am
still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories.
6:54 am
6:55 am
and today's takeaway before we go, later this week the department of health and human services will release the enrollment numbers so far for the health care exchanges. let's give you a little history. the target number for the month of october is about 500,000. the congressional budget office says -- estimates that seven million enrollees must be signed up in 2014 for the numbers to work. that was their estimate. at a minimum, three million enrollees in 2014 to make the numbers work for the insurance companies, for the higher risk taking on with no preconditions, things like that. if you think about it on average for the first six months that would mean what, 500,000 a month. well, here's what we're learning right now. new estimates show the number we can expect to hear about this week is about a fifth of that, that approximately 100,000 folks have enrolled in the health insurance exchanges. this includes just under 50,000 that apparently have signed up
6:56 am
through federal exchanges in the month of october, according to estimates both from the "washington post" and "wall street journal" and the 14 state exchanges which include the d.c. and enrollment there is nearly 50,000 from 12 of those 14. we don't have numbers from california. that's how you get the 100,000 figure. these figures do not include new medicaid enrollees. some people use the website and find out that they are eligible due to income levels for medicaid coverage and that number is going to be a big number and one that is above estimates or about on par at 440,000. it's the epitome of what we do here at "the daily rundown." that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." we'll see you tomorrow. up next, kriz jachris jansing. bye-bye. lamb to the slaughter. mom's baked cookies but he'll be lucky to make it inside. and here's the play.
6:57 am
oh, dad did not see this coming. [ crowd cheering ] now if kevin can just seize the opportunity. he's seen it. it's all over. nothing but daylight. yes i'd love a cookie. [ male announcer ] make a powerful first impression. the nissan sentra. now get one fifty nine per month lease on a two-thousand thirteen nissan sentra. ♪ [ male announcer ] welcome back all the sweet things your family loves with 0-calorie monk fruit in the raw. ♪ welcome back [ male announcer ] it's made with the natural, vine-ripened sweetness of fruit, so you can serve up deliciously sweet treats without all the sugar. so let no drink go unsweetened. no spatula un-licked. and no last bit un-sipped. you don't have to throw a party, but you'll probably feel like celebrating. raw natural sweetness, raw natural success.
6:58 am
6:59 am
[ female announcer ] we eased your back pain... ♪ ready or not. [ female announcer ] ...so you can be up there. here i come! [ female announcer ] ...down there, around there... and under there for him. tylenol® provides strong pain relief and won't irritate your stomach the way aleve® or even advil® can. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol®. good morning. i'm chris jansing. yes, it's early, but the numbers
7:00 am
are really interesting and the donors are already lining up. talking about the brand new nbc news poll that looks at the hypothetical matchup between hillary clinton and chris christie. and she's up ten points on the newly elected new jersey governor. she wins african-americans by nearly 80 points. she's winning young people under the age of 30 and latinos. dominating every single region of the country. hillary clinton beats chris christie in the northeast, the west, the south and the midwest. however, chris christie pulls ahead with whites, seniors and people who earn more than $75,000 a year. so with all the 2016 speculation fitting that today is the first national finance strategy meeting for the ready for hillary super pac. >> there are over 500,000 people who have already pledged to help. over 1.1 million people signed up on the ready for hillary